Floor clip



Patented A1... 4, 1939 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE linois Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of 11- Application February a, 1939, semi No. 254,489

6 Claims. (91. 189-35) This invention relates to clips for use on railway cars and more particularly to'floor clips or clips for holding floor boards in position on their, supports. r

One of the objects of the invention is the. provision of a new and improved clip so constructed that-when in operative position, it is prevented from rotating and is provided with integral means for retaining the nut on the attaching bolt.-

10 A further'object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved floor clip having novel integral means that is adapted to be bent to nut. holding position with a single stroke of a hammer or the like.

15 A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved combined floor clip and nut lock that is simple inconstruction; inexpensive to manufacture, easily applied and. that is eiiicient in use.

20 Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following de- 1 scription taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which a Fig. 1 is a transverse section of a portion of a 2r railway car showing the invention inposltion therein, with parts broken away;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the floor clip show? ing the position of a wrench in attaching or detaching the nut, in dotted lines; v

30 Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the floor clip before it is attached, showing the" nut in one position, in dotted lines; and,

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showingthe tongue in nut holding position, the nut being 35 shown in dotted'lines and turned one-eighth of a turn from its position in Fig. 3.

It has been proposed, in the construction; of floor clips, to provide a tongue along the edge of the clip which is adapted to be bent downwardly from the clip body alongside the nut'after .it hasbeen applied for locking the same against its removal. This arrangement is objectionable because it requires the useof a tapered bar or lever for insertion between the tongue and clip 45 body for bending the nut locking means-downwardly alongside the nut. It has also been proposed to provide the floor clip with a tongue, the attaching part of which is adjacent the nut and the end of which iaprovided with arecess for 50 engaging the nut, said tongue being adapted to be bent over on itself to cause the recess therein to engage the nut for locking the same against turning. But this is objectionable also because in bending the tongue, the loop will not be prop- 56 erly' located and the nut holding portion will be either too long or too short for properly engaging the nut. Other means comprising the use of a two part construction have also been proposed but these too are objectionable as being troublesome to apply and requiring too much time to 5 properly attach. The present invention seeks to remedy these defects by the provision of a combined clip and nut-lock in which the clip has an integral tongue 7 that is so positioned that when the nut is screwed 10 home, the tongue may be driven to nut holding I position by a single blow of the hammer and, when in position, the end of the tongue will be. parallel with and substantially in engagement with a side face of the nut. 2

Referring now to the drawing, the reference. character It designates a portion of a railway car having a side sill II and a floor board l2. The side sill has a laterally extending flange ii to which the floor board I2 is adapted to be attached by means oi a clip ll. The clip l4 comprises a plate which may be, and preferably is, rectangular having a body portion ii. at one end and an oifset portion l8 at the other. The body portion has an opening i1 therethrough for receiving the attaching bolt la. The ofiset portion it which, for convenience of description will be considered as extending downwardly, is adapted to engage beneaththe flange l3 when the clip is in-floor board holding position.

Suitable means are provided on the body portion I! for holding the nut in adjusted position when the clip is applied. As shown, a tongue I! preferably, though not necessarily, has its longitudinal axis coincident with, or parallel to, the

longitudinal axis of the clip and diameter of the hole [1. The tongue is preferably, though not necessarily, enlarged at its free end as. at 2| and tapers outwardly toan intermediate point 22,

as shown in Fig. 3. From the intermediate point 40 22, the edges of the tongue diverge toward the.

base as at 23. The tongue is formed by slitting the metal and then bending the tongue portion downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 2. The

widened base portion 23 will prevent the tongue from forming a sharp bend at the base so that a long bend, as shown at 24 in Fig. 2, is formed in the restricted portion when the tongueis bent downwardly. The tongue, at its free end, is bent slightly upwardly as shown at 25 so that when so the tongue is bent up to the position shown in Fig.1, the outer face 26 of the tongue will be parallel with, and in close proximity to, a side face of the nut; as shown in Fig.1.

In order that the outer face 20 ofthe tongue.

when it is bent to the position shown in Fig. 1, shall'be' in close proximity to the face of the nut 20, the inner portion 21 of the slit is located slightly inwardly of the outer face of the nut 20, as shown more clearly in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing. The bend 30 between the body l5 of the clip and the ofiset portion I8 is somewhat sharp to form a shoulder 3! that is adapted to engage the inner edge of the flange l3 of the side 10 silleior. preventing turning of the clip when the v bent to the position shown in Fig. 2 and to the L same is applied. Preferably, the opening I! for the bolt is so located that the shoulder 3| will be in engagement with the flange i 3 when the clip is applied.

In the manufacture of the plate, the tongue is form shown in that figure so that the nut 20 may be turned to position by a conventional wrench such as the socket wrench 28, shown in 20 dotted lines in Fig. 2. After the nut has been turned home the wrench isremoved and by a single blow 01a hammer, the tongue I9 is bent to the position shown in Fig. 1. By means of this arrangement, the plate l4 may be made of ferrous material of low carbon content as soft iron or mild steel, it not being necessary that i the tongue shall be resilient. This is considered an important feature of the invention. Should it become necessary to remove the nut, this may 0 be done by the aid of a proper lever such as drawing, it is not uncommon for the same to be drawn sufliciently tight when the sides-there-.

'a screwdriver, or the like, inserted in the space 29 between the upper end of the tongue and the lower surface'oi. the body portion of the clip.

In applying a square nut, as shown on the of are at an acute angle to the-centerline oi the tongue. It may be too tight to be turned further and to turn it back to a position in which the 0 side adjacent the tongue would be perpendicular I thereto would loosen the nut. In order that the nut may be lockedin this partially rotated angular position, the tongue i9 is provided on-its nut engaging end with anotch for receiving a corner of the nut so that the nut may be locked I inany one of eight positions during'each iotation. In' other words,.-,-when it is in one position to' be engaged by the end of the tongue, as shown in ,Fig. 1, it may be turned through one-eighth -of a turn and locked as shown in Fig. 4. This notch is formed when the stock is slitted to form the tongue, thus leaving an angular'projection 10 on the connecting'portion 50 of the stock between the opening I! and the opening formed by the tongue l9, This additonal material great- -ly strengthens this connecting portion over what it would be were the edge 21 straight across the opening SI. 7 a

While I have. shown the clip as being used for holding the door boards of a railway car in position'on their supports, it is understood that this i the construction'and operationoi my device will be apparent to those skilled in the art and that changes in size, shape, proportions and details of construction may be made without departing dunction's or for clampingly 2,152,776 I v from'the spirit and scopeoi theappended claim.

I claim:

1. A floor clip comprising a metal body portion having an opening therethrough adapted to receive a bolt and provided at one end with a portion adaptedto lap a frame member and clamp a floor board thereto, and a tongue integral with and struck up from a recess in the clip extending from a tongue base line in a portion of the clip relatively remote from said opening to a line relatively close to said opening, leaving a portion 01 metal between said opening and recess, said tongue extending approximately diagonally from said base line toward the axis of said opening and terminating at its free end in an edge including a straight line shoulder approximately normal to the length of the tongue and spaced lengthwise of the clip far enough from the edge of the opening to permit a nut to be turned on said bolt by a socket wrench or the like, whereby said tongue is adapted to be bent toward the clip by a blow from a hammer or the like to bring said .shoulder into" locking relation with a side of said nut.

2. A floor clip comprising a metal body portion adapted to engage a floor board and an offset portion at one end of the body portion adapted to lap a frame member and cooperate with the body portion in clamping said floor board to the frame member, said body portion having an opening therethrough adapted to receive a bolt, and a tongue integralwith and struck up from a recess in the body portion on the side of the opening remote from the offset portion and extending from a tongue base line in said body portion relatively remote from said opening to a line in said body portion relatively close to said opening, leaving a portion of metal between said opening and recess,

said tongue extending approximately diagonally from said base line toward the axis of said opening and terminating at its free end in an edge including a straight line shoulder approximately normal to the .ength of the tongue and spaced lengthwise of the clip far enough from the edge of the opening to permit a nut to be turned on 'with a Tide of said nut.

3. A floor clip comprising abody portion having 'an opening therethroug'hadapted to receive a bolt and provided at one end-with a. portion adapted to lap a frame member and clamp a floor board thereto, and a tongue integral with and struckup from the clip extending approximately diagonallyfrom the plane of the clip toward the axis of said opening and with its free end spaced lengthwise oi. the clip far enough fromthe edge of the opening to permit a nut to be turned on said bolt by a socket wrench or the like, whereby said tongue is adapted to be bent toward the clip and into locking relation with said nut by a hammer blow or the like directed against the free end of the tongue, and said tongue having its base of greater width than its intermediate por-,

'tion whereby'said blow will tend to introduce greater curvature in the intermediate portion of the tongue than. in its base portion.

4. A floor clip comprising a body portion having an opening therethrough adapted to receive a bolt and provided at one end with a portion adapted to lap a frame member and clamp a floor board thereto, and a tongue integral withand struck up from the clip extending approxi mately diagonally from the plane of the clip toward the axis of said opening and terminating at its free end in an edge including a straight line shoulder spaced lengthwise of the'clip far enough from the edge of the opening to permit a nut to be turned on said bolt by a socket wrench or the like, whereby said tongue is adapted to be bent toward the clip by a hammer blow or the like to bring said straight line shoulder into locking relation with said nut, and'said tongue having its A base of greater width than its intermediate portion whereby saidblow will tend to introduce greater curvature in the intermediate portion of the tongue than in its base portion. ,1,

5. A floo'r clip comprising a metal body portion having an opening therethrough adapted to receivea bolt and provided at one end with a portion adapted to lap a frame member and clamp a floor board thereto, and a tongue integral with and struck up from a' recess in the clip extending from a tongue base line in a portion of the clip relatively remote from said open-- 1y normal to the length of the tongue and spaced lengthwise of the clip tar enough from the edge of the opening to permit a nut to be turned on said bolt by a socket wrench or the like, whereby said tongue is adapted to be bent toward the clip by a blow from a hammer or the like tobring said shoulder into locklng'relation with a side of said nut. 1

6. A floor clip comprising a metal body portion havingan opening therethrough adapted to receive a bolt and provided at one end with a portion adapted to lap a frame member and clamp a floor board thereto, and a tongue integral with and struck up from a recess in the clip extending from a tongue base line in a portion of the clip relatively remote from said opening to a line relatively close to said opening, leaving a portion of metal. between said opening and recess, said tongue extending approximately diagonally from said base line toward the axis of said opening and terminating at its free end portion in an" into locking relation with a side of said nut..

SVEN STRID. 30 

